Combat
Combat has a couple of meanings in World of Warcraft: # The state where your character is considered actively fighting and prevents actions that can only be done out of combat, like using food or drink. # Anything having to do with fighting, especially physical combat with weapons and armor. # One of the Rogue talent trees. = Avoiding Damage = Ways of avoiding damage are miss, dodge, evade, parry, block, absorb, resist, immune, and reflect. Miss - only applicable to physical damage. Any physical attack, assuming that both attacker and attacked are the same level and have no modifiers to their hit rate, has a 5% chance to miss. Dodge - only applicable to physical damage. Your chance to dodge is increased by agility and defense. Parry - only applicable to physical damage. Your chance to parry is increased by defense. Only certain classes are capable of learning how to parry attacks, and only attacks from your front may be parried. Evade - applicable to any type of damage, or even non-damaging debuff. A mob that is in a position where the game believes players are using an exploit to avoid being damaged will go into Evade mode at which point it is effectively immune to all attacks. Absorb - applicable to any type of damage. This is usually the result of having a buff such as Power Word: Shield, which absorbs a limited amount of damage before failing. Certain shields can only absorb certain kinds of damage, so read the description before wondering why you're still getting hurt. Resist - only applicable to magical damage. This is basically the magical version of a miss. Your chance to resist a spell or other effect is based on your resist of that element, as well as your level. You can also partially resist some spells, taking only 25%, 50%, or 75% of the normal damage. Immune - applicable to any type of damage. This is the result of a mob having a coded ability to be immune to certain attacks (i.e. Scorpid Sting does not work on most bosses) or a player using some skill or item to protect them from damage (i.e. a Paladin's Blessing of Protection). These are either permanent (mob immunity) or time-limited (Paladin blessing) and will not fail regardless of how much damage you throw at it. Reflect - applicable on non-AoE spells only. A Reflected spell will bounce back to its caster, acting as if it was cast on him. Generally a Reflect is caused by a buff such as improved mage's Frost Ward or Fire Ward, however certain mobs might have a set chance of reflecting spells of a given magic school. = General Combat Tips = Ready Attack Before In Range Sometimes you might want to right-click on a mob to attack it when it is out of range. Why? Because you can run toward it and your character will melee attack as soon as you get in range. This tactic gives you a slightly quicker attack than running close enough and then attacking. This tactic also helps against caster mobs, since you can sometimes run up and get a hit in before they finish casting their first spell, potentially delaying their casting time or interupting the spell altogether. Using A Ranged Weapon Also called Pulling, try to use a ranged weapon or spell to begin combat with most creatures in the distance. This gives you an extra hit before melee combat begins. Be careful with this tactic against ranged caster mobs, since melee combat can have the advantage of interrupting or delaying spells where ranged attacks generally give the caster ample casting time to cast spells. An advanced tactic to use in combination with a range weapon or spell is to try and perpetually run away from your oponent in circles (making sure you don't aggro anything else of course) allowing yourself just enough time to get a hit off but proceed running. This is called kiting. If done properly the opponent may never lay a finger on you. Running Away Never eliminate the option of running away, if a battle starts going badly. Watch how much damage per hit an opponent does and when you get to about half health, you might want to think about running if you can't heal or won't kill the opponent before you die. Especially consider running, if you are fighting more than one opponent. Notice that Human mobs often will flee themselves when they are at a low health level. Where not to run Some things not to do when running: * Don't run where there are other mobs who you might aggro. * Don't run toward a hill or mountain that might lead to a dead end or alot of maneuvering to get around. * Don't run off a cliff that may kill you from the drop. *Dont run when the oponent has ranged attacks and can kill you much more easily if your back is turned rather than if you are in there face doing damage. Where you should run Good places to run: * Many mobs won't follow you into water (river, lake, sea or ocean), but beware of water mobs (Sharks or Threshers) or amphibious mobs (like Crocolisks or Murlocs). * Many water mobs won't follow you on land, but also beware of amphibious mobs. * Run to friendly guard NPCs, since they will sometimes aid you, and most likely there are no enemy mobs. * Run to Player characters not fighting who are around or higher than the level of the mob. Sometimes they will help you out, but not always. Useful things to do when running Useful things anyone can do before you run or while running: * Drink a healing potion (or any equivalent) if you have it. * Yell for help in some way (/say, /yell, etc.). * Watch for and avoid obstacles like fences and walls; these will slow or stop a player without affecting a pursuing mob. -- TedC *If you have enough health to take a few more hits from the mob, turn around and use a movement imparing effect or a stun effect on it, then proceed running. Some useful things to do before you run or while running per class (not comprehensive and not including Talents): * Priest ** Power Word: Shield (damage absorb) and Renew (slight heal) can both be cast while running. ** Psychic Scream can get opponents off your back, but may cause adds. ** Fade sometimes works, but usually only in parties. ** Shackle Undead roots an undead opponent before you run. ** Also look at various racial spells for things to do. * Rogue (only some of the many helpful abilities for running are listed) ** Gouge stuns a target before you run. ** Evasion lets you get hit less. ** Sprint allows you to run faster away, one of the better things to do. ;-) ** Kick interrupts casting, to do before you run against a caster. ** Vanish allows you to enter stealth mode while in combat, instantly losing aggro, will break if a Damage over Time is active * Warrior ** Hamstring slows a single opponent before you run. ** Shield Bash interrupts casting, to do before you run against a caster. ** Disarm so your opponent does less damage (in theory). ** Intimidating Shout gets any extra opponents off your back briefly. * Mage ** Frostbolt slows a single opponent before you run. (Tip: Cast the level 1 Spell, same effect in slowing but less cast time) ** Cone of Cold slows multiple opponents. ** Polymorph works great before you run. Use on adds also. ** Frost Nova roots multiple opponents before you run. ** Slow Fall allows you to run off cliffs you otherwise might not. ** Frost Ward/Fire Ward absorbs some frost/fire damage, in case mob does that. ** Blink teleports you a few yards forward, a very useful ability for running away (Beware blink may sometimes malfunction and cause you to be teleported backwords due to terrain issues, learn the places you cannot use blink and try to avoid it) * Druid ** Entangling Roots roots an opponent before you run. ** Rejuvenation can be cast while running for slight healing. ** While in Bear Form, use Bash to stun an opponent before you run. ** Hibernate to sleep any beast or dragonkin opponents. ** In Cat Form, Dash can give you an extra boost of speed for a short period of time. ** Travel Form gives a smaller speed boost than Dash but lasts as long as you are in that form. ** Changing forms removes most immobilization effects and cancels Polymorph. * Hunter ** Send your pet on the opponent before or while you run. ** Aspect of the Cheetah allows you to run away faster. Watch out for the daze effect if hit. ** Scare Beast can get a beast opponent off your back, but may cause adds. ** Feign Death may work to figure a path for running away or to lose aggro entirely. ** Wing Clip before you start to run will cause the mob to run slower. ** Concussive Shot as you're running away will also cause the mob to run slower. ** Scatter Shot before you run to incapacitate the target for a short time. * Warlock (only some of the things) ** Send your pet on the opponent before or while you run. ** Use a Healthstone to heal yourself before you run. ** Curse of Weakness will make chasing mob do slightly less damage. ** Fear can get an opponent off your back, but may cause adds. ** Banish on an elemental or demon opponent before you run. * Shaman (other totems might also be helpful) ** Earthbind Totem slows multiple opponents for when you run. ** Stoneclaw Totem distracts opponent(s) from you. ** Earth Shock interrupts casting, to do before you run against a caster, but high aggro. ** Frost Shock slows a single opponent before you run. ** Water Walking to run away on water (but be careful about taking damage). ** Ghost Wolf to give you a small run speed boost * Paladin ** Divine Protection can be cast while running. ** Blessing of Protection doesn't last as long but can be cast on self. ** Hammer of Justice stuns a target before you run. ** Lay on Hands heals completely, but drains all mana. ** Blessing of Freedom Makes you immune to all movement impairing effects. = Physical Combat = Some considerations follow on physical combat situations. Melee vs. Ranged Combat The choice between melee and ranged combat depends mostly on your class. Most classes have all their best abilities in one category. Some are lucky enough to have some abilities designed to help them switch to their preferred range (such as Hunters' Wing Clip). This section may, however, be intended to describe tactics for keeping your foe at your preferred range (especially when it is not theirs). --DJUrsus 00:59, 18 April 2006 (EDT) Fighting With Two Weapons, Using Off Hand Your total damage output when fighting with two weapons should be higher than fighting with one weapon and a shield, but roughly equal to fighting with a two-handed weapon. Off-hand attacks deal 50% of the weapon's designated damage. Therefore, it's wise to always put the best "damage dealer" weapon in the main hand. Dual-wielding also gives a 24% base miss rate (compared to 5% for wielding a single weapon). A Rogue with the dual-wield talent increases the off-hand weapon's damage from 50% up to 75%. A Fury Warrior with the dual-wield talent increases the off-hand weapon's damage from 50% up to 62.5%. Dual-Wielding vs. Two-Handed Some Basic DPS Math * Assume 2x1H weapons with x''' DPS each * Assume 1x2H weapon with '''y DPS Warriors and Rogues without dual-wield specialization: 1.5'x' * (1 - 0.24) = 1.14'x' Rogues with dual-wield Specialization: 1.75'x' * (1 - 0.24) = 1.33'x' Warriors with dual-wield Specialization: 1.625'x' * (1 - 0.24) = 1.235'x' 2H weapon: y''' * (1 - 0.05) = 0.95y We know from these equations, then that: 1. Non dual wield warriors and rogues have their DPS increased by 14% when wielding two weapons with the same DPS. 2. Dual wield rogues have their DPS increased by 33% when wielding two weapons with the same DPS. 3. Dual wield warriors have their DPS increased by 23.5% when wielding two weapons with the same DPS. 4. Two-handed weapons have their DPS reduced by 5%, unless modified by talents and +hit gear. In order to determine which weapon combination is superior, then we equate the two formulas: '''For non-dual wield warriors and rogues: 0.95'y' = 1.14'x' Which then reduces to: y''' = 1.2'''x This tells us then that a two-handed sword must at least have about 20% more DPS than each of the two individual swords. For dual wield warriors: 0.95'y' = 1.235'x' Which then reduces to: y''' = 1.3'''x This tells us then that a two-handed sword must at least have about 30% more DPS than the DPS of each of the two individual swords. Conclusion Taking a look on Thottbot to see what 1H and 2H "green" quality swords there are around lvl 30-35 will give us the Nobles set of 1H swords (22.1 DPS, lvl 35) and the FrostTiger blade (28.8 DPS, lvl 35). The 2H blade's DPS is about 30% more than the 1H blade. Another example would be the 1H lvl 30 Jade SerpentBlade at 18.3 DPS vs 2H lvl 30 Stonecutter at 23.9 DPS. The 2H blade's DPS here is again 30% more than the 1H blade. We can then conclude that unless you are a Fury Warrior with dual weild spcialization, the better weapon choice to increase DPS is to use a two-handed blade. Fury warriors on the other hand will find themselves better off with two one handed weapons, due to the increased rage generation from the tier 2 warrior talen Unbridled Wrath. Dual-Wield vs. Two-Handed Conclusions * If your 2H weapon shows more than 20% (for non-dual wield builds) or 40% (for dual wield specialization builds) extra DPS than your 1H weapons, you're better off using that. * Basic dual-wield gives a 14% DPS increase over using a shield + 1H weapon. * Rogues and warriors with Dual-Wield Specialization get an additional 19% increase on their base DPS (or 12% on top of the basic dual-wield dps without talents). Two-Handed vs. One-Handed For Shield Users For Casters It seems that for casters, the best stat bonuses come from Staff weapons, which are always two-handed. Caster melee DPS is negligible, as they (usually) lack the Strength necessary to cause DPS appropriate for their level. --DJUrsus 00:52, 18 April 2006 (EDT) = Magical Combat = Some considerations follow on magical combat situations. Take Resistances Into Account Don't forget that opponents of a higher level than you have a good chance of resisting any magical attacks, so don't always rely on initial crowd control, damage, or root/snare spells to set up a fight. Don't be unprepared if the target resists a spell or two. Also consider specific types of spells agains targets that might have specific types of resistances. Magical cold or water mobs might have a frost resistance, for example. Think About Casting Time and Interruption The longer it takes to cast a spell, the more times you're going to get whacked (further delaying the spell) and the more likely it is that your opponent will be able to use a stun or other spell-interrupting skill on you. This is of particular importance in PVP since the other player has to react fast enough to interrupt you, and a faster spell gives them a smaller time to do that. Think About Aggro and Adds Using your favorite high-damage spell to pull a mob might not be the best idea in the world. For one, it can make it very difficult for other players, such as warriors, to pull it off you (in the case of taunt resists, etc), increasing the likelyhood that you will go down. Secondly, high threat spells have a much higher chance of pulling other creatures around the mob, which can also be dangerous. In most cases, if you are a caster and you are pulling, you would be better off to use your wand, as even a crit from a wand is relatively low threat, whereas your 4k frostbolt is not. Keep Track Of Mana and Health Keeping an eye on your Mana and Health before and during battle can mean the difference between life and death. Make sure to glance at it often. Category:Game Terms Category:Gameplay Combat